


Children of Pale City

by Engelsoft



Series: Children of the Maw [4]
Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: Bad at tags sorry but I always list warnings, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, I'll add tags with each new chapter, More info in the author's notes, Shadow Six being Nasty, Spoilers for all the games and comics!, Spooky mind control stuff, Warnings mentioned at the start of each chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:21:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29426634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engelsoft/pseuds/Engelsoft
Summary: Spoilers ahead for all LN games and some comics!This story is a direct sequel to my other work, Children of the Maw. After bringing down the Maw, Six and my OCs travel to the Mainland, unaware of what lies ahead. Six is separated from the group and finds herself in the clutches of the Hunter. She almost gives up hope before a certain boy with a paper bag mask finds her.
Relationships: Mono and Six if you squint I guess
Series: Children of the Maw [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924753
Comments: 21
Kudos: 65





	1. Prologue, The Thin Man

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Wow, it has been a Hot Minute since I wrote LN stuff, but I’m back with the direct sequel to Children of the Maw! If you haven’t read that story, I highly recommend checking that out before starting on this one. I’ve been so excited to write this omg. I hope you like it! Comments appreciated :)
> 
> As a disclaimer, I know not everything in this series is canon. Basically everyone is familiar with the canon anyway, so I’m adding my own twist. The Little Nightmares games leave a lot up to the speculation of the audience, so my work incorporates a lot of my own theories and headcanons. I’m aiming to make the features at least plausible. Hopefully it’s enjoyable! (Also just sayin’ I don’t own Little Nightmares).
> 
> Timeline stuff: There’s a lot of debate on where Little Nightmares II fits into the timeline of the games, but for this fic/series I’m sticking with the timeline of Very Little Nightmares coming first, then Little Nightmares and finally Little Nightmares II. That order makes the most sense to my series so I don’t write myself into a huge plot hole haha. The timeline will be explained better during the story! Also, I know the time loop theory is popular and I think it’s pretty cool, but for this particular story I have other ideas :D
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Massive spoilers ahead for all of the games, and the comics too! The story will have a generally dark tone as well, but that’s not to say there won’t be some sweet moments too.

...oOo...

Prologue, The Thin Man

In the grey, static-filled wasteland, a white square of light materialised before him. He walked towards it, the exit portal that would lead him closer to the child he sought. He knew only three things about her. The first, that she wore a yellow raincoat. The second, that she had killed the Lady with some powerful, unknown ability. And the third, that she could possibly be a deadly threat to his Transmission.

The Signal Tower sent its broadcast to the very corners of the world, and as such the Thin Man was connected to the Maw through the TV screens within. He periodically flickered across the screens on the Maw, using the plentiful souls of the Viewers to fuel his visits. From the TVs, he would observe. Watching, calculating, making sure all was in order. He had not noticed anything unusual during his last visit. The child prisoners were still securely trapped, fated to die on the Maw or live long enough to be shipped to the Signal Tower to provide fuel for the Transmission as needed. The Lady was still in power, casting a watchful eye over her Guests as they entered that year’s annual feast. The Maw had been well, continuing to function that way for as long as he could remember.

But now the Thin Man had returned to the Maw. Between his last visit and now, the Maw had fallen. All he knew was that the Lady had been killed somehow by this unusually strong child, this girl in yellow who he had only just learned of. He had to capture her, to trap her, if not kill her immediately. If he could seize the girl and return to the Signal Tower, her essence could offer an impressive power to the Transmission. He could trap her inside the Signal Tower, slowly leaching the essence from her until she was an empty husk.

The square of white light grew larger as he drew nearer to it. He folded his tall body and fit through, emerging into a bare room with little more than an armchair, ashtray and the hissing TV which he’d just stepped through.

The Thin Man looked left and right, searching. By his logic, the child would be towards the top of the Maw, where the Lady’s residence was located. He did not know the precise layout of the Maw, but if he could venture upwards, she would be in his grasp before long.

He remained still for a few moments, summoning the energy he needed to teleport to the floor above him. He needed a sizeable amount of power to do so, as the Transmission was much weaker here than in Pale City. Even so, teleporting would still be faster than walking. Time was critical. He had to capture the girl before her mysterious power caused further chaos to the Maw - and to what was beyond.

Almost as the Thin Man had gathered enough power to teleport, he was interrupted. The Maw gave a colossal lurch, causing his form to glitch and the power to fade. He glanced sharply upwards in time to see dust shower down from the ceiling, raining onto the shoulders of his suit jacket. A loud, metallic groan sounded from somewhere close by.

The internal workings of the Maw were failing. It was sinking.

The Thin Man looked back to the TV. The portal still remained, but he had to leave now before the Maw’s electricity vanished or the TV was damaged in some way. If he did not return to the Signal Tower before that, he would be stranded on the Maw. His connection to the Signal Tower would be severed. He, and everything he had accomplished, would perish.

But the child! He could not reach them at this moment, but he knew someone who could. As the Thin Man climbed back into the TV, making his return to the Signal Tower, he pictured the Ferryman in his mind. He would send the Ferryman after her, to fetch her and bring her to Pale City. There was a possibility that the Ferryman would be defeated by the child, what with her unknown power that took the Lady’s life, but it was the Thin Man’s only option unless he wanted her to drown at sea. Even if the girl did destroy the Ferryman, she wouldn’t be able to escape the Thin Man’s thousands of eyes on the Mainland, disguised as TVs. He could easily track her, capture her, and take her precious power for the Transmission. She would be in his domain.

The Thin Man sat on his wooden chair, safe once again in the confines of the Signal Tower. Tuning in to the omnipresent Transmission, he influenced it to his will, calling and controlling the Ferryman through its limitless reach. The Ferryman would leave immediately to ‘rescue’ the girl and bring her to him.

A slow smile stretched across the Thin Man’s grey face. All he had to do now was be patient.


	2. Voyage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter: N/A. This one's actually pretty ok, given how dark LN can be.

**Chapter 1: Voyage**

**Eight**

Chewing a mouthful of brittle, salty hardtack, Eight looked out across the horizon where the sun, her newly-discovered favourite thing, was soon to dip below the ocean waves. Even from this distance, she could see the way it shone on the Maw’s dark hull as it sank towards its grave on the seabed, never to hurt another living soul ever again.

Eight looked over at Six, who sat shoulder-to-shoulder with her in the Ferryman’s tiny rowboat. All 33 of the escapees - children and Nomes alike - had crowded onto the boat after Six had accepted the Ferryman’s dangerous deal. He would take them to land and feed them all on the condition that Six obeyed his every whim once they reached the shore. But despite Six’s frustrated questioning, the Ferryman hadn’t revealed what those whims were.

Six had been quiet since they’d boarded the boat, and had hardly moved or spoken a word since. Eight wanted to ask what was on her mind, but bit her lip. At Six’s order, none of the kids had spoken since the Ferryman’s arrival, letting her and Eight handle the situation. It wasn’t safe to discuss plans here with the Ferryman looming over them, manning the oars with his thick arms. He himself didn’t speak either, but Eight knew he was listening, waiting, for his passengers to.

The last of the hardtack was a gluggy lump in the back of Eight’s throat, and she shuddered after swallowing it all down. _There,_ she thought. It wasn’t the best food she’d ever tasted (then again, she’d never even _had_ good food that she remembered) but it would keep her full for a while, and that was really all she could ask for.

Eight followed Six’s gaze and looked out across the dark, glassy water towards the Maw again. It was barely visible now, just a blackish lump, and Eight was amazed at how something so colossal...so _immortal..._ could vanish and die that easily. She thought of everyone still on it - the bodies of the Granny...the Janitor...the Wax Bellman...the Lady. The Twin Chefs, who had not made it to the exit in time. The masses of Guests, still not fully awakened from the Lady’s spell. Eight begged they’d remain under her spell until they died, so they’d at least go somewhat peacefully. And last of all, the forgotten Nomes...the children still sitting in their opened cages when they’d left...the brave little boy, Seven...and everyone else who had perished on the Maw across all time.

Eight thought too of the objects that had been left behind: her bed in the Nursery and the freakish doll that the Janitor had given her...the libraries of the Janitor and Lady, brimming with knowledge and information. And that book - that precious book about Six’s Hunger curse...just...gone. Destroyed. The sea owned it now.

All those people and possessions gone without a trace. And all because of her and Six.

Eight found tears forming in her eyes for some reason, and blinked them away. She couldn’t place what or who they were for. For all those who had died or suffered maybe? For herself? It was an indescribable feeling. One of awe and amazement at what they’d accomplished, and one of hollowness; fear for the unknown. The Maw was undeniably evil, but it had been familiar. It...had been her home, and the place where her first memory began. A terrible, terrible home...but a home nonetheless. Where would her new home be?

The escapees watched as the last sign of the Maw was sucked below the waves. The sky blushed a soft pink, then a peachy amber, and finally blazed crimson as the sun set. It was the first sunset anyone had seen, or _remembered_ seeing, besides the Ferryman, and the kids gazed upon it with wonder, pointing and gasping.

_I’m going to be as free as the sky,_ Eight vowed silently as she tilted her head back, awestruck by the way the colours stretched as far as she could see and beyond. She glanced over at Six again and saw that she had at least lifted her head, drinking in the wondrous view. Twenny, who had been sitting at her feet the whole time and playing quietly with Three and his Nome friends, looked up at Eight in wonder. Eight smiled and nodded as if to say: _Yes, I see it too!_

Though it wasn’t particularly safe to speak to each other in the Ferryman’s presence, Eight felt an unspoken understanding between herself and the other kids when she caught their eyes. A firm sense that this was only the beginning; that they were a family now and she would do all she could to protect them and stay together. The world was a scary place, but they could have more moments like this one - in safety instead. The children returned her smile with shy ones of their own, and though they couldn’t voice it, Eight knew they understood what her warm expression meant.

As night fell, the children fell asleep one by one, huddled together for warmth. Eight herself realised how tired she was - and she needed to sleep anyway, it was unknown what lay ahead and she needed all her energy. She curled up best she could next to Six, who had discretely signalled that she would be staying awake tonight. Eight felt below her and gently rested a hand on Twenny’s hair. The 6-year-old was already asleep, snuggled into Three’s baggy coat and surrounded by Nomes. Eight smiled softly; if he was able to sleep that meant he was more or less ok.

She just hoped Six was ok too...maybe part of her Hunger meant she didn’t need to sleep as often, instead getting her energy from flesh and blood and souls. Eight had only seen Six eat once - the rat in the Kitchens, but based on what Six had told her, she’d also eaten a Nome...as well as the very ruler of the Maw, the Lady. And then there was the case of the Guests whose soul’s she’d taken, and the Wax Bellman’s as well. But Six hadn’t properly _eaten_ them, rather just sucked their souls into her being. Six had all those souls now, but did they feed her? Could she be sustained for a while if she absorbed enough souls? From what Eight had seen, Six hadn’t gotten properly _hungry_ since eating the Lady. Maybe she didn’t need to physically eat anymore - maybe she could simply take a living being’s essence and be done with it. It seemed her Hunger had evolved.

Eight tried to sleep instead of thinking about all these possibilities. She could deal with them in the morning, and maybe she’d have a chance to talk to Six. She hoped things would be ok, and Six would be able to handle whatever the Ferryman had in store. Sleep didn’t come for a long while, but eventually Eight restlessly drifted off.


	3. Land

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter: Mild violence.

**Chapter 2: Land**

**Six**

  
  


It was alive, writhing inside her. It made her limbs twitch and her fingers jitter. She didn’t need to sleep tonight - she couldn’t. Not with all the new essence roiling inside her, and Shadow Six’s bloodlusting thoughts streaming through her mind. It was an uneasy feeling, like a current of electricity pulsing through her, but at the same time it filled Six with such  _ power _ , such invincibility. It was a strange combination of dangerous and delicious. Shadow Six was thriving now, fully-fledged.

Six sat with her knees drawn up to her chest and tried to ignore the surging in her very blood. Shadow Six’s words from before played in her mind:  _ The Lady’s essence will kick in veeery, very soon. And do you know what happens then? Then I’ll have full control over you. _

Six had always believed that killing the Lady would break her Hunger curse, as the Lady had been the one to cast the spell in the first place, but now that she was dead...Six knew that wasn’t true. Shadow Six, who was basically the embodiment of Six’s Hunger, was thriving thanks to all the souls she’d fed on. She wasn’t just a feeble shadow in the corner of Six’s eye anymore - she was practically her own being. And Six was stuck with her until she found a way to get rid of her. If there even was a way. 

Six closed her eyes against the memory of the Lady’s death and breathed out as slowly as she could to quell the bloodlusting itch inside her, except it did little to nothing to calm her. The hours dragged on, and one by one the children and Nomes fell asleep, pressed against each other to stay warm. There was no way she could sleep as well; it was taking all her self-control just to keep a solid handle on herself. Visions of gore and blood and black mist, cravings for more power, were all flowing through her. She could feel Shadow Six just below the surface of her skin, sending out these calls for destruction. Six could barely cope with all the new essence she’d taken on, and she felt it would be a while longer before she was able to control it. But that didn’t stop her from trying to force it down.

When she could ignore it no longer, Six decided to face it. She whispered into her mind, addressing Shadow Six directly:  _ What are you doing? _

Shadow Six’s gleeful, manic laugh pierced her ears.  _ I’m celebrating. Aren’t you? _

_ Celebrating what?  _ Six hissed.

Another cackle.  _ Isn’t it obvious? I’m fully-fledged now. You’ve taken enough souls for me to be strong. Remember what the Lady said? That your Hunger won’t disappear just because you leave the Maw? You’re stuck with me. So you’d be wise to just accept your curse. Don’t act like you’re the one in control. _

Six would be lying if she said this didn’t send a pang of fear through her stomach. But she bit back anyway, thinking of the time when she’d managed to resist Shadow Six. It had been directly after killing the Wax Bellman, when she’d turned on the children with the intent to kill them too, and she’d used all her strength to stop herself.

_ I’ve fought you before and I’ll do it as many more times as it takes. _

Shadow Six clicked her tongue, her tone becoming sinister.  _ How cute. Look around, little canary. Look at the Ferryman. Your little flea friends. How easily do you think I could rip them all apart, as well as this tiny boat? I could’ve done it a hundred times over by now. But I won’t. You know why? Because they’re useful to me for the moment. And besides, if I slaughtered them all you’d be furious, wouldn’t you? Then that would make you uncooperative. You’re too hot-headed. Submission will keep you alive in this world, haven’t you learned that? _

Six’s blood was boiling. Shadow Six could feel it too and she smiled. Or at least, Six could sense her smile despite not being able to see her.

_ You’ll bow to me soon,  _ Shadow Six continued.  _ You can play the hero for now, but the reality is that this power is too much for you to handle. You can’t resist me for the rest of your life. You’ll cave eventually.  _ Her laughter rang in Six’s skull, high-pitched and harsh.  _ Oopsie! Looks like it’s already happening. _

“Six - ow -  _ Six, you’re hurting me! _ ”

Six gasped and recoiled from Eight’s shrill voice. Six looked up to see her friend holding her hand against her scalp, eyes narrowed in pain. One of her twin braids had come loose, hanging in messy waves down her shoulder. The string that Eight had tied around her hair was in Six’s own hand.

Six blinked as she came back to herself, absently dropping the length of string into Eight’s lap. She clutched her hand against her chest instead, unable to meet Eight’s eyes. Her fingers were so tense that they ached. Eight shifted beside her and gingerly took the string, quickly re-braiding her hair as she cast a glance at the Ferryman. He was stone-still despite his arms working the oars, giving no indication he’d noticed the commotion (though he obviously had). Eight pursed her lips, deciding to break her vow of silence despite the risk of the Ferryman eavesdropping.

“What happened?” she whispered to Six, massaging her scalp.

“Nothing,” Six murmured. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, whether she’d been awake or asleep. Clearly, she’d become distressed at some point during her conversation with Shadow Six and had unknowingly grabbed and pulled Eight’s hair. “Just a nightmare.”

Eight’s brow was creased with concern. Six noticed that a few other kids had woken up at Eight’s exclamation as well, but Eight smiled cheerily at them, pressing a finger against her lips to hush them. They nodded and curled up again, returning to sleep.

“I’ll stay awake from now on,” Six mumbled, not knowing if she’d even been asleep in the first place. Eight assessed her for a moment, then nodded, drawing her knees up to her chest and mirroring Six.

“I’ll stay up with you,” she whispered.

Six shrugged. “If you want.” But really she was grateful for Eight’s company.

The girls sat in silence for a while, feeling the swaying of the rowboat underneath them. Shadow Six was completely dormant now. There was no sign of her within Six at all, but that didn’t stop her from letting her guard down.

Six looked to the sky. She began boredly counting the pale stars as a way to pass the time, slumped against the edge of the boat.

“Six?” There was a rustle of clothing and Eight cupped her hand around Six’s ear, whispering. “I have a question.”

Six cast a discrete glance at the Ferryman to see if he’d reacted. Eight did, too. His hollow eyes were expressionless as ever, but she still doubted it was safe to talk.

Six cupped her own hands around Eight’s ear and whispered back. “Is it safe to talk about? How urgent is it?”

Eight pressed her lips together, giving Six a sheepish look that said ‘it can probably wait.’

“Ask me when it’s safe, ok?” Six murmured.

Eight nodded slightly, sitting back. She gave a soft exhale and looked up at the sky again. Six hoped they’d get a chance to talk when they reached land, without the presence of the Ferryman. Hopefully whatever it was could wait.

...oOo…

A grey smudge soon appeared on the horizon. Land. Six gently nudged Eight awake, and her friend immediately began to wake up the other children.

A spark of hope flickered in Six’s chest, and she heard some excited gasps from the others, but she reminded herself not to let her guard down. It was still unknown what the Ferryman wanted from her. It was still dark, too, and the night carried a chill. Even with her slightly enhanced ability to see in the dark, thanks to the rat she’d consumed on the Maw, Six’s sight would still be at a disadvantage. She had to stay alert.

As they came closer, Six could make out thick expanses of trees. There were no buildings or lights that she could see, just dense forest. There appeared to be no sign of civilization around for miles. Where was the Ferryman taking them? What’s more, the air here felt dead somehow. Six didn’t know how or why, but something in the atmosphere was heavy. Alarm pricked at her insides, the hairs on the back of her neck rising.

As the moon climbed higher in the sky, the Ferryman guided the little rowboat into the shallows. They were still many metres out from the actual beach, and it was too far for any of the children to swim.

The children watched with bated breath as the Ferryman placed down his oars. He spoke again for the first time since their departure, spreading his arms out to gesture widely at their destination.

“Here we are, little lady. The shore.” His drooping mouth curled into a sly smile as he looked down at Six. “I always keep my word.” He stood up in the boat, causing it to sway under his mass, and planted his booted feet into the water with a splash. The children shielded themselves from the cold droplets, wide-eyed and nervous again. The lapping seawater reached up to the Ferryman’s waist. It was certainly too deep for any of the escapees to stand in, and too wide to swim across before the Ferryman caught up with them. The chill of the water would exhaust them, too, slowing their escape. He had obviously planned all of this.

Six tried not to flinch as the Ferryman turned to her, extending his huge hand and beckoning with his fingers. “Now, little lady...since I’ve kept my word...you’ll keep yours. You’ll be carried across first.”

His hollow eyes unnerved her, but she mustered up her courage.  _ Remember, I can rip out his soul the second anything goes wrong. _ She cast a look at Eight and all the other children and Nomes, gave them a reassuring nod, and then climbed onto the Ferryman’s waiting hand, feeling his fabric skin itch against her own.

The Ferryman brought his hand towards his breast pocket and gently tipped Six inside. It smelled of something salty and stale, and stray crumbs squished between her toes. She ignored it all and stood up, gripping the edge of the frayed pocket and peering out. She smiled confidently at the boat’s passengers and gave a little wave to say she’d be ok. Some of the kids returned her wave, Three and Twenny being the most enthusiastic. Eight was one of the few who didn’t wave back, anxious and distrusting of the situation.

“I’ll be back for the rest of you in a moment,” the Ferryman told the others. He began wading across to the shore through the waist-deep water. Six turned her attention from the boat for now and tried to make out what was ahead. The shore was sandy, littered with grey rocks. But as they got closer, she realised that some of the boulders were in fact cages, more than enough to house all the kids back on the boat. Six didn’t know what she’d been expecting - with the Ferryman being so vague and untrustworthy - but her heart sank all the same.

Six remained silent as the Ferryman plodded up the beach and retrieved one of the cages. She wondered when they had been put here. The Ferryman seemed to have been expecting the Maw’s downfall and had prepared well for it. How else had he known to come out onto the ocean and rescue them all before it sank? What was his motive? Surely his intentions couldn’t be good. He only rescued Six and the others to do something awful with them, right? Why go to the effort of saving them when it would’ve been far easier to let them drown?

The Ferryman opened the cage’s creaking door and then picked Six out of his pocket, placing her inside. He snapped the lock shut behind her and then placed the cage on the ground. “You’ll stay here.”

Six wasn’t too concerned about the cage, but she pretended to be. In reality, she’d be able to spring open the lock easy-peasy with her shadows, the same way she’d opened the cages of the children in the Maw’s Prison thanks to the Lady’s essence. She just had to wait for the right opportunity, when the Ferryman was distracted enough.

Six watched him take another cage in his massive hand and carry it back across the water. She couldn’t make out what was happening at the boat due to the distance and darkness, but a few minutes later he came wading back across, now with another child in the cage. He placed them down beside Six, grabbed another cage, and swished back through the water once more.

“Do you know what’s gonna happen?” the young girl now beside Six asked, peeking through the bars of her cage once the Ferryman was out of earshot.

Six shook her head. “No, but it’ll be ok, I promise. He’s probably just taking us to an orphanage or something. We’ll be safe there. It’s important that we all do what he says, ok?”

The girl nodded. “At least it can’t be as bad as the Maw, right?” But her voice betrayed her uncertainty.

“Of course it won’t,” Six answered, trying not to let her own voice shake.

“I...um...on the Maw, I heard a rumour…that sometimes kids get taken off the ship in cages and they go to a city to be used for something. Is that true, Six? Will that happen to us?” Her voice rose an octave. “Is that why we’re in cages?”

The girl’s huge eyes bore into her, waiting and desperate. Six shifted her weight from one leg to the other. These children seemed to think she was some all-powerful being who knew the answers to everything. But she didn’t. She had as little idea as the rest of them as to what was going on.

“No, of course not,” was all Six could say, trying to keep her tone light.

Again and again, the Ferryman took an empty cage to the boat and returned with a full one. Back and forth, back and forth. Three and his Nome friends came across soon enough, as well as Twenny.

The minutes crawled by...slowly, slowly...as the rest of the children joined the pile of cages one by one. Back and forth, back and forth. Six’s anxiety grew stronger with every passing moment. She looked around, up and down the shore as far as she could see. They were in the middle of nowhere - no buildings, no people, no sign of life anywhere except for the vast forest behind them. What was going on?  _ Were _ they going to a city to be ‘used’ for something?

The Ferryman eventually returned with the final caged child - Eight - and stacked her cage haphazardly on top of the rest. All 33 escapees were now here, trapped and at his mercy.

“What now?” Six demanded as soon as he’d set Eight down.

The Ferryman rumbled a low chuckle, slapping the top of Eight’s cage like it contained a prized treasure. Eight glared, not daring to shrink away from him. The Ferryman’s gaze roamed slowly over his haul, his bounty. That same sly smile curled onto his face again as he answered Six:

“Now we go to the City.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Mono's first chapter is coming soon and you'll get to see a lot of him, I promise!!


	4. Fears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the slow update. Uni and writer's block haven't been too kind. This chapter follows the new comics, but even if you haven’t seen them, this should still make sense! This is just where I have Mono start out before he gets to the Wilderness at the start of LN2.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Fire, implied child death, mild injury. 'Little Nightmares' should just be the warning hahaha.

**Chapter 3: Fears**

**Mono**

The orphanage was all he knew, and now it was on fire.

Mono woke with a jolt as a scream pierced the air. The acrid smell of smoke was thick around him, and he could feel the heat of the burning floor through his bare hands and feet. He stood up immediately, his sleepiness evaporating. The paper bag over his head rustled as he glanced upwards through its eye-holes, peering out of his secret place under the wooden floorboards of the orphanage. He often hid here to be alone, to avoid the other boys who bullied him. But now his sanctuary was in flames.

He could see the boys running around now, shrieking in fear and tugging at the boarded windows of the prison-like orphanage to escape the fire. Mono had never seen them so panicked before, and a selfish part of him hoped they felt the same helplessness that he felt when they bullied him. They taunted Mono because he looked different to them. He wore the same uniform of brown trousers and a button-up shirt, but his paper bag and dark-green trench coat made him stand out. They helped to block out the constant, mind-numbing buzz of the Transmission, and kept the judgemental eyes of others from crawling across his skin. He _needed_ the paper bag and coat, otherwise, Mono would’ve taken them off long ago and saved himself the torture the other orphans subjected him to.

Mono deftly climbed up along the tangled ramps of wooden planks, emerging from his hole and onto the main floor. The other boys were pounding against the front door of the building, which was locked with a hefty padlock and chains that were too high up for any of them to reach. Fear fluttered in Mono’s chest. The lock was there to prevent kids from escaping the orphanage and running away, and it was working too well.

He tried to remain calm. He knew there was no use in trying to help push and pull on the door - it was impossible to get out that way, and he knew because he’d already tried. He headed in the opposite direction, running past patches of flame and wincing at the burning sensation in his feet.

A thumping noise on the floor above, like a giant walking around above them, made Mono stop in his tracks. Some of the other boys around him paused too, looking to the ceiling. Suddenly, the sprinkler system came to life, spraying water over them and extinguishing most of the fire. Mono was protected from the water by his paper bag, which had a waxy, waterproof coating to stop it from becoming soggy. He exhaled in relief, glad that the brief fire was out. He didn't know how it had started, but that didn’t really concern him. Now he could go back to his hiding spot before the boys noticed him and-

A scream.

Mono whipped his head around in time to see one of the boys being plucked towards the rafters by a huge hand. The other boys stood frozen in fear, powerless to help as their friend yelped and was dragged out of sight. A chill snaked down Mono’s spine, his limbs tingling with fear.

Monsters were common in this world, and one had taken the commotion of the fire as an opportunity to snatch up the children. Whether it ate them, trapped them, or killed them in some other horrible way, Mono didn’t know, and he didn’t want to think about that. Half of the boys stood paralysed in terror and the other half scrambled in confused zig-zags as they tried to flee. But to where? The padlocked door? The boarded windows? No. There was no exit.

Except for maybe one...one exit, a window that was high up on the floor above. It would be a risk if he jumped from that window, but any possible risk was better than imminent death. As the monster continued to seize more of the boys, Mono snuck away in the other direction, away from the front entrance of the building. He ran to a staircase and climbed, looking back over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being pursued. He tried to stay quiet, restricting his panting to slow breaths through his nose. Each footfall was feather-light - any noise would resound off the concrete walls and expose his location to the monster. His paper bag rustled with each exhale. Mono glanced back again, terrified, imagining something’s presence right behind him. The screams seemed to be getting closer, as if the monster had come down onto the main floor and was abducting victims deeper within the orphanage. The piercing sounds rang out around him, bouncing off the concrete steps as he climbed.

If he could just get to that window - just get to that window and climb out-

Fear zapped through Mono’s core as he caught sight of movement behind him. A shadow cast on the wall behind him - a tall, humanoid figure with reaching arms. That same thumping sound as it shambled up the first few steps towards him. An involuntary gasp slipped from Mono’s lips and he darted up the last few steps, stumbling into a room where the only source of light was that coming in through the open window. His freedom. The windowsill was low enough to reach and climb on to, but Mono did not have the time to do so. He had to hide. But where? _Where?_

_Thump. Thump._

There was a TV next to him, the screen shattered and splinters of glass forming a sharp frame around a small hole that was wide enough for him to squeeze through.

_Thump._

Who cared if he cut his hands or feet on the glass? Minor injuries could be fixed; death couldn’t be. Mono raced to the broken TV and hauled himself inside, the glass biting at his fingers. He folded his knees to his chest and fell silent just as the monster’s shadow fell across the room’s entrance.

For a moment, Mono detached from his body out of pure fear. Time seemed to slow. He heard the monster inhale and exhale with snarling breaths. Once. Twice. The quiet was deafening. Mono looked down at his pale feet, hugging his knees in an attempt to find some sort of comfort. Would the monster come closer? Did it know he was hiding in here?

Apparently it did, because as soon as Mono had this thought, the monster strode deeper into the room. Mono could see its arms and torso from his hiding place, and could hear the monster’s frustrated grunts. The monster’s body twisted left and right, scanning the room. It sniffed deeply. Mono knew it could smell him. It knew he was here in this room, and it would only be a matter of time before he was found. The monster moved to an armchair a few feet from the shattered TV in which Mono was hiding. With a snarl, the armchair was overturned, easily cast aside.

Something glinted near Mono’s bare toes. He flinched and looked closer. There was a shard of glass there, small enough for him to pick up. Mono slipped his hand deeper into the sleeve of his trench coat to protect his skin from the sharp edge. He held his breath and picked up the glass shard, the fabric acting as a glove that protected his hand.

He located the monster. It was at the far side of the room now, with his back to him. If Mono could throw the glass shard towards the door, the monster should run over there to investigate the noise, thinking that he’d fled down the stairs.

...Right?

The monster was rummaging through boxes in the corner, teeth and fingernails scratching on cardboard. It sounded like a feral animal trying to catch a mouse. But it was searching in the wrong spot. The mouse was on the other side of the room.

Mono only had one chance to throw the glass shard. If he failed, he would certainly die. The monster had its back turned, and this was the only opportunity he would have to throw the shard before it turned around and searched the only remaining hiding spot here.

That thought was all the motivation Mono needed. He reached his arm slowly through the broken screen of the TV, held his breath, and then flung the glass as far as he could towards the doorway. It bounced across the floorboards with a series of loud tinkles, coming to rest several feet from the door. The pit of Mono’s stomach dropped. It hadn’t landed as close to the door as Mono had wanted, which meant less distance between himself and the monster, but he had to take his chance. He hadn’t messed up fatally and he could still make his escape.

The monster snapped upright with a grunt as it heard the glass, thumping towards the doorway and glaring down the stairs. It was turned away from Mono, and was far enough away that he could have just enough time to sprint to the window.

 _Go! Now!_ Mono leapt from the TV, stumbling across the floor. His legs flew towards the open window, faster than the rest of his body. Mono sprang, gripping the windowsill and pulling himself up. Without seeing what was directly beneath the window, Mono rolled - out and down. He glimpsed the monster just before he fell over the lip of the windowsill - a tall, terrifying beast of shadowy black and twisted teeth and claws. It had seen him! It would come after him! The thought had Mono gasping for air as he fell, and then his tiny body thudded into a half-filled dumpster.

Mono sucked in air, grabbing the edge of the dumpster and dragging himself to his feet. He managed to climb out and drop onto the uneven street below. He dared not look back as he ran faster than he ever had in his life, not daring to see if the monster was pursuing him or not.

Ahead of him, shop fronts curved in precarious leans, arching towards the irresistible source of the Transmission. The air was thick, like smoke, and the ever-present buzzing was stronger here in the street than it had been in the orphanage.

Not slowing down, Mono saw a jagged hole in the middle of the street. It was partially covered by a TV - a functional one that was rippling with static. TVs were everywhere in this world, singing their deadly songs. They were something Mono always avoided, but now he had no choice but to touch this one. If Mono could push the TV aside he’d be able to drop into the small hole and escape the monster. It was his only chance at survival. What then, though? He couldn’t think of that - all that mattered now was safety.

_Thump. Thump._

It sounded as if the monster was right behind him. Mono chanced a look over his shoulder and was met with the sight of the beast silhouetted against the dying flames of the orphanage. It wasn’t as close to him as he’d thought - but it soon would be.

Mono planted his hands on the screen and pushed the TV with all his might, trying to make the hole big enough for him to squeeze inside.

_I need to get far away! Somewhere far away where it can never find me!_

The TV screen whooshed and crackled, and Mono gasped as it seemed to latch onto him, as if to suck him inside. His body felt fainter, transparent almost, rippling with the same pulsing static that was on the screen.

 _Don’t look!_ Mono yelled at himself. _Don’t look or the Thin Man will take you!_

He knew what happened to the Viewers of Pale City if they stared at a TV for too long. Their faces melted and puckered, their eyes sinking in their sockets until they shrivelled completely. But they still continued to gaze at the TVs long after their eyes - and brains - had dissolved. Mono couldn’t let that happen to him, and that’s why he wore the paper bag over his head, for partial protection.

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._ The monster enjoyed stalking Mono slowly, knowing there was no escape for this little mouse. Its prey would either fall victim to its claws, or it would become transfixed by the Transmission and be unable to flee anyway. Despite whichever way it happened, one thing remained the same. The little boy would not live for much longer.

Mono screwed his eyes shut, fighting against the powerful lure of the Transmission. He couldn’t submit to it - he had to keep pushing! Just a little more...a little more and he could escape from both the TV and the monster! Mono strained his arms, heaving at the TV. He was so close!

_Thump._

_I have to get far away from here!_

Mono screamed the thought in his mind. The TV crackled again, far louder this time, and Mono saw a bright series of flashes through his closed eyelids. He suddenly felt heavier, slower, as if the air had become semi-solid. Was this what it felt like to be under the control of the Transmission? No...because he was still capable of thinking. And his eyes were still tightly shut. He hadn’t looked into the screen for too long, he was sure of it. The Thin Man couldn’t have taken him.

What had happened, then? He couldn't hear the monster anymore, nor could he smell the smoking orphanage or feel his hands against the TV screen. Mono dared to open his eyes, very slowly. He was met with a grey haze that stretched away through a crooked corridor. There was a large metallic door at the end, adorned with a staring eye decoration. Where was he? Was he...dead? What was behind the door?

Mono looked behind him, but saw nothing but a thick grey fog. He looked back towards the door. It unsettled him, but it seemed to be the only way out of...wherever he was. Mono’s heavy legs waded through the haze, as if he was walking in slow motion. The bent corridor straightened for him as he walked along it, the door with the eye becoming clearer. Black particles swirled around him, buzzing as they swept past his ears. Flies? Of course not...they were something else...but he wasn’t sure what.

A sudden thought occurred to Mono. Had the TV sucked him inside? It felt like it had been pulling him towards its screen, dragging him inside. But how was that possible? Mono supposed that if the Transmission was possible, if the melted faces of the Viewers were possible...then this could be, too.

Mono continued towards the door. His body felt heavy and slow, but as he continued towards it, he felt himself growing suddenly lighter. A tugging force was dragging him backwards, towards where he had come from. Was the monster pulling him from the TV? Mono fought against it, breaking into a run so he could try and reach the door before the force ripped him out of the TV. He jumped, hands out to reach for the door’s handle, but before he was anywhere near the exit, the grey haze blurred his vision and the sound of static hissed in his ears.

Mono found himself tumbling across grass, spat from the TV with a flash of white light. He gasped, turning around to see a TV behind him flicker with static and then abruptly switch off. His own reflection stared back at him from the lifeless screen.

The young boy shakily stood up, feeling a sudden pain in his feet. He lifted the soles of his feet to see small red cuts from when he’d climbed through the broken television. He’d only just noticed the pain, being too fuelled with adrenalin to notice before. Mono hissed through his teeth and limped around on his stinging feet, trying to get used to the pain. Having gone without shoes for as long as he could remember, Mono was used to minor injuries on his feet, but these cuts were particularly bad and made walking slow. His hands had fared a little better than his feet, but were still traversed with cuts from his near-death encounter. His side also throbbed with a dull pain, from where he’d struck the dumpster, but that seemed to be the extent of his injuries. It was a miracle he wasn’t worse off.

Mono stared at the TV he’d apparently just travelled through, expecting it to switch on and the tall, shadowy monster...or the Thin Man, too, for that matter...to crawl through at any second. He backed away from the TV cautiously, hobbling away through the grass that reached nearly to his waist. Mono noticed that the Transmission was a little weaker here. That meant wherever he was, it seemed to be a fair way from Pale City. He still decided to keep his paper bag securely over his head, though. It was protective and familiar and he didn’t want to take it off even if the Transmission was slightly milder here. Especially after what had just happened with the TVs, Mono felt he needed all the shielding his paper bag had to offer.

More importantly though - where was he? How had he gotten here? He was in the middle of a forest, that much was clear. Trees loomed above him, silhouetted by a full moon. Their branches reminded him of the claws he’d just escaped from. It seemed like...he’d desperately wished to get far away from the monster...and then he’d ended up here. The TV had fulfilled his wish and saved his life. Something that Mono had always thought of as deadly had _saved_ him. He looked back at the TV he’d exited from, still black and lifeless. He didn’t want to try experimenting with it again, in case it led him back to the monster, or to that eerie hallway with the eye. 

Mono thought he’d meddled with something he wasn’t supposed to, something to do with the Transmission, with the Thin Man who controlled it all. The Thin Man was easily Mono’s worst fear - the man who could travel through televisions, snatching children who got too close to a screen and enslaving adults who gazed at them. He controlled everything, commanding it all from the Signal Tower at the heart of the crumbling Pale City. Mono didn’t know what the Thin Man’s ultimate motives were, but he did know that he didn’t want to live in a world like that. He longed to destroy the Signal Tower and kill the Transmission somehow, freeing the innocents of Pale City. But Mono knew that was near-impossible. Young though he was, he knew what a childish wish that was. For now, he just needed to focus on finding safety.

With no other option, Mono picked a direction and ventured for a while, slow from his injuries. The cool grass and dirt underfoot offered some relief to the stinging in his feet, which he was grateful for, but he needed to stop and sit down frequently. He scanned his surroundings as far as he could see, but the wilderness only offered darkness. Everything looked the same, and there were no notable landmarks that he could use to keep track of where he was. The full moon was his only company. He was completely alone now. He’d escaped from the shadowy monster, the Thin Man, the orphanage and Pale City - they were all left behind. So what now? Could he find some sort of shelter out here? Or would something else get him before that?

Mono decided to climb a tree to get a better look at his surroundings and rest for the remainder of the night. He used a fallen log to climb up and reach the lowest branch of a tree. After hauling himself up with his scraped hands, Mono was quite content to simply sit and ponder, letting his sore feet dangle off the edge of the branch so the cool air could soothe them.

While he took a break from walking, Mono looked around for as far as he could see. The whole forest seemed like it was watching him. It had the heavy aura of death and decay. The silence was deeply unsettling, especially in contrast to all the panic he’d felt before. It felt dangerous to venture any further in the dark, and he wouldn’t explore further at least until dawn broke.

Mono gazed at the full moon, wondering what he’d do when the morning came. Finding something to eat would be his first priority, then finding somewhere safe that he could make into a new sanctuary, considering his old one was long gone now. All he wanted was somewhere safe where he could heal.

He stayed awake for most of the remaining night, until the moon was high in the sky. He drew his trench coat tighter around himself, grateful to have protection from the chilly whistle of the wind. Crows cawed somewhere in the distance, the only break from the near-silence. Though his body was fatigued, Mono’s mind was kept alert. His eyes constantly searched for monsters in the dark, spotting trees that spooked him with their eerie shapes. His fear, the cold, and the pain in his body kept him awake despite his want to sleep and forget.

Eventually, Mono entered a kind of trance, something between being awake and asleep. He stared idly, eyelids drooping as he curled into a ball...until a whistle of wind or an owl’s hoot had him sitting up straight again. It continued like this for a long time, possibly many hours. As soon as he was about to drift off to sleep, something in the inhospitable forest would disturb him again.

In the latest hours of the night, it was a gunshot.


	5. Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Loooots of stuff happening in this chapter, so get ready for some adrenalin rushes! Comments are greatly appreciated as always :)
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Magical violence, child death, animal death, mild blood, gun violence. Please let me know if you ever need any warnings added for your safety/comfort! It’s no trouble and I’d like my readers to be safe since I do slip up sometimes.

  
  
  


**Chapter 4: Loss**

**Six**

The Ferryman was taking them to...the City. A heavy feeling settled in Six’s chest as she recalled the words of the young girl she’d spoken with moments before: _sometimes kids get taken off the ship in cages and they go to a city to be used for something._

Six gripped the bars of her cage, looking up at the Ferryman from under her raincoat’s hood. “ _Where_ in the City?” she demanded. “What then?”

Six knew it was near-impossible to get a clear answer from the Ferryman, who had supplied nothing but vague answers since he’d arrived to ‘rescue’ them from the sinking Maw, but her anger rose all the same when all he uttered was: “Patience, little lady.”

Though her blood boiled, Six fell silent, knowing it was useless to keep questioning. She felt the worried eyes of the other escapees on her, and tried to put on a brave face for their sakes. The Ferryman smiled upon seeing that the little girl wasn’t demanding answers anymore. His gaze roamed over the cages one more time. Satisfied that the escapees were properly imprisoned, he turned his back and walked off. He grabbed a lantern that was sitting on a nearby rock, produced a box of matches from his pocket to light it, then moved away up the dark beach with the swinging light as his guide.

“Hey!” Six yelled after him, but he gave her no acknowledgement. She knew he could still clearly hear him; he wasn’t that far away. Where was he going? Six’s vision blurred momentarily, her heart pounding fast.

“I’ll be back shortly. I’m only waiting for your transport to arrive,” the Ferryman replied simply, without another glance at the escapees. Six watched him continue along the beach until the only sign of him was a small circle of light.

Her heart sped up further. The Ferryman didn’t know that she could use her powers to open the cages while he was away. She could do it right now - they could all escape into the forest! It was dangerous, of course, and it was the middle of the night, but she could lead them with her abilities and get away from him and whatever he was plotting.

_Clever,_ Shadow Six praised, appearing again in the pit of Six’s stomach. _But do you really want these cowards weighing you down? It would be easier to kill them here and now, to take their essence and grow stronger. They’re at your mercy. The Ferryman is, too. Go on. Spring open your cage and rip th-_

_Shut up!_ Six yelled back mentally, clutching her head. She felt terribly ill all of a sudden, her brain becoming hazy and foggy. The air around her was suffocating; it had felt so dead and heavy since they’d arrived at the beach. It was hard to think clearly because of it, and her vision was blurring again, fading in and out of darkness. There was a horrible feeling in the bottom of her stomach where Shadow Six dwelled.

“Six?” Eight’s voice yelped to her, full of concern. “Are you ok?”

_Kill that little friend of yours first. She’s smart. Her essence would be especially usef-_

“Stop it!” Six cried out suddenly, hands tightly clutching her skull in a vain attempt to silence Shadow Six. An agonising pain suddenly bloomed in her stomach, and she moved her hands here instead, bent double as she was so used to doing when her Hunger struck. But this pain wasn’t her Hunger curse. It wasn’t Shadow Six wreaking havoc for the mere fun of it either. Shadow Six seemed to be in pain, too - because Six heard a distressed cry from the dark entity, echoing in her own mind. They were _both_ being harmed by something.

Six felt her shadowy counterpart trying to claw out of her stomach, trying to escape from the body that was her vessel. It was possible for Shadow Six to leave Six’s body if she wanted to, but for the most part she preferred to stay inside Six and sadistically influence her like a parasite controlling its host. But now...now something was stopping her from leaving. There was something suppressing her, weakening her and trapping her inside Six’s body.

Six was at Shadow Six’s mercy as her tendrils lashed out in desperation. Her cage door sprung open and she staggered out onto the sand, the tendrils still searching. They were undulating through the air, surging as far as they could towards the cages of the other children. Shadow Six could sense that she was becoming suppressed, and she was trying to snatch as many last souls as she could before she was forced back inside her host. Shadow Six’s fear burnt through Six like fire, hot and all-consuming. There was no way she would submit to the blocking force that easily. Not without a fight.

The children screamed, pressing against the far corners of their cages as the tendrils wisped through the bars and licked at their skin. Six’s mind was almost blank to it all. She could hear the terrified screams, could see Eight rattling the bars of her cage and yelling something at her...but it was all so blurred and slow, as if she was experiencing it from deep underwater. Six knew to a degree what was happening - Shadow Six had turned on the children again - but she was powerless to take back control. She was bent double with pain, on her knees in the sand as a numbing buzz coursed through her body.

Mercifully, the tendrils could not maintain full power for more than a few fleeting seconds. They started to fade, becoming shorter and more transparent. Still, they strained for the children and Nomes - trying to seep under their skin, tugging and ripping - until they had all but returned to Six’s body. Dormant. Completely and utterly...submerged. The pain Six had felt was gone, too, though a fogginess still remained.

What had done this?

As her hearing returned to normal, a hysterical cacophony surrounded Six. The sounds of crying, yelling and pounding on cage doors from the others who had witnessed her power go berserk. She realised with a sickening lurch that some of the children were laying very still on the floors of their cages, including the girl in the cage next to hers. Dead? Were they all dead?

Six shakily got to her feet and hurried to the girl’s cage, searching for a sign of life. Her chest was rising and falling, meaning she was still breathing. She was alive, but Six’s tendrils had evidently pulled at her soul hard enough to make her lose consciousness. What damage had she done? Six could only hope the girl would recover.

Eight’s voice rose above the chaos of others. “SIX! Help us get out of here! They’re coming for us!”

Eight was right. Under the sounds of the petrified children was another. It was...a rumbling sound. And it was getting closer.

Six looked down the beach, the same way the Ferryman had gone. Two streaks of light were making their way across the sand. The headlights of a truck. The engine roared at full capacity as it sped towards Six and the caged escapees.

The raincoated girl ran for her friend’s cage first, trying to push her power towards Eight’s door to unlock it. Nothing happened. Her eyes darted to Eight’s fearfully, and Eight reached her hands through the bars to clutch Six’s. She seemed to understand what was happening more than Six did. “I can’t, Eight! I ca-”

“You have to go! The Ferryman wants you the most.” Eight cast a stricken glance at the truck that was hurtling towards them. “We’ll be in the City. I’ll find you again. I promise I will, I promise!”

Six was shaking her head, clutching at her friend’s trembling hands. “N-n-no! No! Eight!” She tried again to open the locked cage with her power, but it was useless. Every last trace of her power seemed to have vanished somewhere deep inside her.

The glaring headlights of the truck came to a halt and the passenger door burst open. Six let go of Eight’s hands to shield her eyes from the bright light. The Ferryman jumped out onto the sand, swinging his lantern. His eyes were on Six, and he began racing towards her.

“Listen, Six, you have to go!” Eight shouted. “I promise I’ll find you! Go!”

The Ferryman’s heavy boots scarred the sand as he closed in on Six, arms outstretched to seize her. She couldn’t rip out his soul - she was completely powerless now, a deer in headlights. She turned back to her friend. There was one last thing she wanted to say.

“Wh-what was your question?” she blurted. “What did you want to ask me on the boat?!” She turned from Eight, starting to run to the treeline of the forest to escape from the Ferryman. The other children screamed, rattling their cages and begging for Six to free them before she ran away.

“It’s - it’s - why didn’t the people on the Maw ever try to escape?” Eight gasped. “Even when it was sinking! The Twin Chefs, the Bellman - it’s like something was controlling them! And - and I think it might be affecting you, too!”

At those words, Six’s feet slowed. It was true...when she and Eight were escaping from the Maw, even after multiple engines had failed, there had been no sign of the Wax Bellman, the Twin Chefs or any of the other monsters onboard trying to flee to the exit. Six had always supposed that had been the Lady’s doing - using her magic to subdue them and stop them from ever leaving the Maw, but then...why hadn’t she done that with the children? If she had that ability, she would’ve used it on the child prisoners to prevent them from ever escaping. Something else was at play - the heavy, dead air around her, the unknown force that had rendered Shadow Six completely dormant...there was something else, but what?

A grunt of effort behind her snapped Six back into reality, and she put on a burst of speed to sprint away from the Ferryman’s reach. She could hear his boots just behind her, the creak of his lantern, and then a rush of air as his hand swiped for her. Six leapt, but his thick fingers caught the hood of her raincoat, lifting her into the air. She squirmed, gasping and trying to escape the fingers that were pinching her clothes. The Ferryman was holding the lantern in one hand, and fumbling for a better grip on Six with the other. He hadn’t properly grabbed _her_ , just her raincoat. She had a tiny chance at escape - but at a cost.

Six raised her arms, flailing and wriggling so she would slip out of the raincoat. The Ferryman grunted as she fell from his fingers, landing on the ground below. She was only wearing a simple white t-shirt and shorts now, clothes that she’d had before arriving on the Maw. She didn’t remember where she’d gotten them from. Her metallic lighter thudded to the ground beside her but she had no time to pick it up. She had to run, run and hide before she could be taken!

In the dark, Six practically dived into a tangled mess of roots at the edge of the forest, her body pressed against the dirt as the Ferryman took a few seconds to realise what had happened. He swung the lantern side to side, shining it into the treeline. Six stayed low, using her hands to brush dirt and leaves onto herself to help camouflage her white clothes. The Ferryman’s lantern passed over her, but didn’t linger. He heard him issue a low chuckle.

“If you had’ve just been patient, you could’ve stayed with your friends,” he called into the undergrowth. “But you won’t see them again before they’re...well, let’s just say...put to good use! And the Wilderness is a dangerous place for a little lady like you! You won’t last the night!”

Six’s chest tightened at these words, but she remained still. The Ferryman roared with raspy laughter and bent to the ground to pick up her lighter, she presumed. He stowed it in his pocket along with her beloved yellow raincoat, then plodded back towards the truck and cages. Six knew she would probably not have her possessions again, but that was the least of her concern. All of her friends were being taken away somewhere, her powers were gone, and there was nothing she could do except watch. She was useless to them now. She couldn’t save anyone.

Hot tears streamed down Six’s face as she lay in the dirt and leaves, watching as strange silhouettes loaded cage after cage into the back of the truck. She was too far away to make out who was in each cage. She could hear some cries from the children, but she couldn’t make out individual words. All she could hear was their fear.

As soon as the truck was loaded, and the glaring headlights moved back up the beach the way they’d come, Six ran after the vehicle, keeping to the edge of the trees so she wouldn’t be seen. She tried to keep up, to follow the truck and see where it was going, but the distance between her and it grew larger and larger. Soon, the headlights and the sound of the engine faded. Six kept running even after that, following the tyre-tracks in the sand and crying out for the truck to stop, to wait, to come back! Anything that would get the other children and Nomes back! She had failed them...she’d failed to save them. Six sank to her knees and covered her face, heaving with sobs. Would she ever be able to catch up to them?

...oOo...

The next few hours were a blur of grief. Six walked, the night wind chilling her bare arms and legs as she followed the tyre-tracks along the beach. Eventually though, they veered off the sand and into the forest, disappearing. Six tried her best to look for any more signs to tell her where the truck had gone - broken sticks, flattened grass, anything! - but it was too dark to see details. Even the rat’s essence that had aided her vision in darkness had lost its effect. The light from the full moon filtering through the treetops was Six’s only company now.

Knowing it was hopeless to venture further, and possibly dangerous with her lost powers, Six found a pile of rocks that formed a small crevice and crawled between them, wedging herself inside to seek shelter from the wind. She wished she had her raincoat, and her lighter, too, but the chances of having them back were slim now that the Ferryman had them.

Six’s brain still felt foggy. She didn’t know if that was from all the tears she had cried, or the strange force that had suppressed all signs of her Hunger curse. Maybe both. Did that mean she was a normal child now that her powers had receded? Just like Eight, or the other kids? Despite having lost her friends, her raincoat, her lighter...Six felt relieved to have lost her Hunger. Even if it meant she didn’t have help from the essence of others, it was a small price to pay to be free of Shadow Six. She didn’t have to endanger those she cared about anymore. That’s if she could ever find them again.

Six sat wedged between the rocks for some time, hugging herself in an effort to stay warm and peering out into the gloom of the forest. She looked down at the clothes she was wearing, the off-white shirt and shorts. They weren’t doing much to keep her warm.

_You won’t last the night!_

Trying to ignore the voice of the Ferryman in her mind, Six hugged herself tighter and focused her attention on remembering where she had gotten her clothing from. She’d had it before the Maw, along with her raincoat and lighter, too, but she still didn’t remember where any of those possessions had come from. She only knew that they were important to her. Her past memories before the Maw were a mystery also, thanks to the Lady’s magic that had made Six and the other prisoners amnesiac when they’d come to the Maw. Six hoped that the longer she was away from it, the more memories she would recover going forwards.

The moonlight was glistening off the edge of something metallic, on the ground a little way from where Six was taking shelter. Six wondered if it would be a good idea to see what it was. She peered closer, and could make out a cage-like shape, albeit slightly squashed. She decided to move out of the rocks and investigate it, despite knowing that the forest was dangerous.

Moving closer through the rustling leaves, Six saw that it was indeed a squashed cage, with the barred door laying on the ground a few feet away. She flinched when she saw a child’s body inside. Though she knew it wasn’t anyone she’d known, her mind raced with images of Eight, Three, Twenny, that poor unconscious girl and all the rest she’d rescued from the Maw. But it couldn’t be any of them. This child had been dead for a long time, and they wore a grey cardigan that she didn’t recognise.

Six stood on the spot for a moment, shifting her weight from one leg to another as she rubbed her cold arms and gazed at the grey cardigan. She longed to have her raincoat, or something that could make her feel more secure. The cardigan wouldn’t only keep her warm, it would help her feel safe.

_Would it be...would it be wrong to take their cardigan?_

Six didn’t like the idea of taking someone else’s possession from them, especially when they couldn’t consent to it, but she outweighed this discomfort by vowing to take good care of the cardigan, to treat it as a memento.

_I’ll take it with me to remember you,_ Six told the child softly. _Even if you aren’t here anymore, I can carry your cardigan with me and look after it._

As Six stooped down to very gently take the raincoat from the child’s body, a memory flickered in the depths of her mind. She was kneeling on a raft, reaching into the water around her to retrieve a bright yellow raincoat that was floating towards her. She’d made that same promise as she’d taken the raincoat and pulled it over her head: _I’ll remember you. I won’t forget you, I promise._

Who had she been trying to remember? A hollow feeling came over Six as she held the cardigan against her chest. She’d gotten her raincoat in a similar situation, and had vowed to remember the person who’d owned it...but she hadn’t. She’d forgotten them. Who were they? Who?

Six slipped her arms through the sleeves of the cardigan. It was a little oversized, and a little threadbare, but it was comfortable and gave her a sense of protection. As she fastened the buttons up to her neck, she mentally thanked the deceased child. She’d not only gained something warm and safe, but a memory as well.

_Thank you,_ Six said. _I’ll protect it. Thank you._

In return for the cardigan, Six stood by the cage and hummed the child a tune she remembered from a music box on the Maw. What seemed like a lifetime ago, Six had sometimes snuck into the empty playroom of the Prison on the nights when she went to steal food. The allure of toys had been too strong to resist, and one night, she’d stumbled upon a music box. The sweet melody had been a risk to play - with the Janitor’s sensitive ears being likely to discover her - but she’d enjoyed the music enough to accept any danger it brought. Six’s anxieties had temporarily melted as she’d listened to the gentle, hopeful tune of the music box. It was one of the few things in the world that had made her feel safe. And music was something she could carry music everywhere, sharing it with others like this poor child.

As Six finished humming the last notes of the song and moved back to the rocks to wait out the remainder of the night, her thoughts drifted back to her friends who had been taken. Without her abilities, would she even be able to rescue them? Six combated this thought by reminding herself that she was still strong even without her powers. She still had her intelligence and her fierce determination. As soon as sunlight crept through the trees and it was light enough to see, she would continue on through the Wilderness and try to get closer to the City to rescue her friends. In the meantime, she should do her best to rest.

...oOo...

A gunshot woke Six. She gasped, tensing in every limb. She heard the fearful squeal of an animal that was closeby, and then the pattering of feet on fallen leaves. Six crawled on her hands and knees towards the exit of her shelter between the rocks. It was still nighttime, but she could glimpse a shape streaking towards her through the trees, followed by flashing light. It was some kind of huge rodent, shrieking in terror as it scurried away from the light and straight for her hiding place in the rocks. Six’s eyes widened and she flattened herself against the rocks as the creature ran for cover. There was another gunshot, closer now, and dirt sprayed up from the ground as the bullet hit a few feet away from her. The light was a lantern, held by the owner of the gun. The rodent squealed again and shot into the crevice where Six was. She yelped and held up her arms to protect herself as it tried to scramble past her - but with another gunshot its life was cut short. The creature mewled and its paws scrabbled at the rocks, at Six. Then it went limp. Its warm body flopped forwards onto Six and she inhaled sharply, shoving it away from her and retreating further back into the tunnel. Her exit was blocked by the animal’s body, and the person who had killed it was approaching.

Six covered her mouth with her hands as the owner of the gun stomped over to the piled rocks. Their heavy footsteps came closer, and she heard them kneel down at the entrance of the crevice to retrieve their kill. The Hunter’s rattling breath misted in the air in front of Six, and two huge hands closed around the rodent’s bloody body to drag it out into the open.

Then he saw her.

If he had proper eyes, they might have widened upon seeing the girl curled up inside the small crevice. But the only sign of eyes was the single bullet hole in the sack that covered the Hunter’s face. Six was unnerved by his appearance, but found it unsurprising all the same. _He_ was more shocked by _her_ , giving her a precious few seconds to flee from the tunnel as he abandoned his kill and reached for his gun and lantern.

Six’s breaths came in ragged gasps as she navigated her way through the undergrowth. She’d been running for many unbroken minutes now, and her lungs were burning with exhaustion. The Hunter’s gunshots made her ears ring, but none of the bullets he’d fired had hit her. More so, they simply collided with the rocks and trees she ran past. Was he trying to actually shoot her, or just slow her down by shooting what was next to her? It seemed like he wasn’t aiming to _kill_ her, but simply _stun_ her. Six didn’t linger on what the Hunter’s motives were as she launched herself into an animal burrow, a narrow underground tunnel that had probably once belonged to a rodent similar to the one that had just been killed.

Six caught her breath in the tunnel, listening for the Hunter. She heard frustrated grunts, boots stomping around above her...then silence. Was it safe to move on? Maybe he had lost her location and had given up. Six waited for a few more moments to make certain, then continued along the tunnel.

As she reached the end, bright moonlight shone down at her and she blinked, gazing up at the full moon hanging in the sky. Six froze as something caught her eye - a child just like her, high up on a branch. They were...just sitting...with their knees drawn up to their chest, curled in on themselves for comfort. The child suddenly noticed her and turned their head to look. Six simply stared, mouth agape at their strange appearance. The child had a paper bag over their head that hid their face, with only two eye-holes that let them see her. The round moon was like a halo behind their head.

In a sort of trance, Six took a step forward as if to go to the child - the first live kid she had seen on the Mainland. Maybe they could help each other. Maybe the kid knew how to get to the City! Six was about to move further towards them when she suddenly caught sight of another light filtering through the trees. Something less friendly than moonlight.

The Hunter had returned. He closed in on Six. Forgetting about the kid with the paper bag, Six raced back towards the tunnel she’d just come from, entering back inside and moving as fast as her skinny legs could carry her. The ground above her shook with another gunshot, and she stumbled as dirt rained down upon her.

Six reached the other end of the tunnel, panting. But she didn’t want to go back the way she’d already come! She wanted to get closer to the City, and to the child she’d seen in the tree! She turned back around, thinking she might be able to confuse the Hunter if she changed directions again. 

Emerging into the moonlight once more, Six saw that the child she’d briefly encountered was gone. The tree was empty. They’d probably fled upon seeing the Hunter. Six looked around, breathing fast. There was no sign of the child _or_ the Hunter, meaning that he must still think she was travelling in the opposite direction. She’d done it! She’d gotten away!

Six ran out of the tunnel and into the open, seeking another hiding spot where she could have shelter and finally evade the Hunter. She didn’t see him behind a tree, waiting for her. She didn’t see that he’d extinguished his lantern in order to trick her. She didn’t realise that he’d be able to hear her running loudly through the rustling leaves.

It was only when the Hunter was bringing the butt of his gun down to strike her that Six realised she hadn’t won this time. She fell to the forest floor, seized by unconsciousness.


End file.
